Local News
Israeli hockey player Guy Rozin continues to improve his game playing in Canada

By BERNIE BELLAN
Elsewhere on this website you can read where I reported on the success that 17-year-old Michael Akbashev has had in the world of competitive judo (https://jewishpostandnews.ca/features/3111-two-years-ago-he-was-youth-ambassador-for-shalom-square-now-he-s-one-of-the-top-judokas-in-his-age-category-in-all-of-canada.)
Since I had written about Michael last year, it wasn’t all that difficult for me to remember what I had written.
But, when I decided to take a look at another young Israeli-born athlete whose story had been told in our paper, I was surprised to see that I, myself, had written the first story about Guy Rozin – three years ago to be exact, when Guy was 13 and when Guy and his family had just moved to Winnipeg from Israel – all so that Guy could further his hockey playing career.
You see, when I thought of writing about Guy again my first thought was that it was Scott Taylor who had written about Guy for our paper – last year. Then, when I reread Scott’s article, I was surprised to read that Scott was actually following up an article I had written.
In any event, when I contacted Guy on February 11, it was actually the first time I had spoken with him. Previously my contact was through Guy’s parents, Roie and Pnina. Back in 2017 Guy’s English would not have been good enough for me to interview him, and although he’s a typical teenager in that his answers were short – not the sort of long winded answers I’m more used to when interviewing older subjects, he still showed the same self-confidence that both Scott Taylor and I had noted when writing about him previously.
Just to recap – here’s a brief summary how Guy came to be playing hockey in Winnipeg: It was Abe Anhang who played a crucial role in bringing the Rozin family to Winnipeg.
In my 2017 article Abe explained his connection to the Rozin family: “My oldest friend from Winnipeg, Dr. Donald Silverberg (son of the late Jack Silverberg, who was a math teacher at St. Johns and ultimately the principal of JWC) lives in Netanyah. Dr. Donald Silverberg has a son, Monte, who is a lawyer in Israel and Monte Silverberg had a friend (and client) by the name of Roie Rozin. “Pnina (Roie’s wife) and Roie have always been sports people (Roie used to play professional soccer) and their kids are good at various sports – his daughter at gymnastics, their other son at tennis and their son Guy turned out to be an exceptional hockey player
“When I found out that Guy (at age 12) had been the European MVP (most valuable player) for two years in a row (in an in-line hockey tournament), it sort of got my attention. Then, wanting to see whether he could make it in Canada competitively, I suggested that Roie and Guy come to a hockey school, so they came for the summer of 2014. He did well there, so I introduced them and they met with the people at Federation who were extremely helpful! As a result, the Rozins applied for Permanent Residence under the Nominee Program (Pnina is a registered nurse, which was in demand then). They moved here in July of 2016 and got their landing card in January 2017. “Barbara (Anhang) and I sort of adopted them. Their 3 children are at the Gray Academy and have settled very well.”
Guy’s father, Roie, filled in some more of the details about the family’s decision to move to Winnipeg so that then 13-year-old Guy could play hockey here.
I asked Roie what exactly led to the family’s making such a momentous decision – to pack up and leave behind a good life in Israel and make the move to Winnipeg. He explained that it started three years ago, when Guy was participating in an in-line hockey tournament in Europe (one of several European tournaments in which the then 11-year-old Guy had already participated). A coach from another team remarked to Roie that Guy showed exceptional promise as a hockey player. That coach said Guy “has something in his head – he’s very smart, and very fast, and I need to do something with him,” that coach suggested. “Two years ago he started to play ice hockey in Israel. We have only two rinks in Israel,” Roie noted. Roie said, “Everybody who saw him (Guy) said ‘he’s a great player, you must do something’, so we decided to move to Canada – that’s the big reason – to play hockey.” One more note about that story – when Guy arrived here with his family in 2017 he was only 5’ tall, but – he was very fast, something his then-coach, Jeff Sveinson, noted when he remarked: “He’s very small, but he’s very skilled.”
Fast forward to 2019 when I asked Scott Taylor to do a follow-up story about Guy’s progress.
Scott wrote: “I thought it might be hard finding a team and having a place to play, but it wasn’t,” said Guy. “I felt I was good enough.” Guy arrived in Winnipeg and hit the ice flying. He was first taken under the wing of Monarchs’ City Minor Bantam AAA coach Jeff Sveinson and then City Bantams AAA head coach John Fehr. He has now won three straight AAA championships with the Monarchs – Minor Bantam, Bantam and Midget. Last month, he helped the AAA Midget Monarchs beat the Sharks to win the 2019 title. Despite breaking his wrist early in the season, he was a force down the stretch and in the playoffs. He finished the regular season with six goals and 15 points in 16 games. To top off his season, Rozin flew to Bulgaria to help Israel finish 3-1-1 and in second place at the IIHF U-18 Division III World Championship. He scored the winning goal 40 seconds into overtime in a 4-3 win over New Zealand and also scored the eventual winning goal in a big 5-2 win over Mexico. He finished the tournament with three goals and an assist in five games.
Scott also noted that “Guy’s immediate goal is to make the Provincial Midget AAA Wild next season. If not, he’d be fine playing another season with the Monarchs.”
Oh – and one more point: By last year Guy had grown to 5’ 4” – and was still growing.
So, when I caught up with Guy recently, my first question to him was: “How tall are you now?”
“Five six” was the answer. That’s two inches in one year – still not enough to be able to make it a cinch for Guy to move up the ladder of competitive hockey, but at least he’s trending in the right direction.
And – following up on Scott’s observation that Guy was hoping to make the AAA under 17 Wild – he did.
Here’s something else that we had written about in a past issue of the JP&N and which I wanted to ask Guy: “There were three other Israeli boys who had come here to play hockey last summer. Are they all still here?”
“No,” was Guy’s answer. “Only one of them is” – a kid by the name of Ido Shteinberg, who is also 17. Ido is also playing with the Wild, Guy says, and while he’s here he’s living with the Rozin family.
Like last year though – when Guy broke his pinky, had surgery, and missed a good part of the season, this year also saw Guy miss quite a few games due to a broken thumb injury.
“I’ve played only 25 games,” he says, yet he has still scored 11 goals and has had six assists, “and we have four more games in the regular season.”
A Grade 11 student at Gray Academy, Guy is now hoping to make the jump to Junior Hockey. He’ll be attending tryout camps with a number of different teams, he says.
Guy’s greatest asset – as it has been since he first took up roller hockey at a young age in Israel, has always been his speed.
“Are you the fastest player on your team?” I asked him.
“Yup,” was the answer.
So, it came as no surprise that his favourite NHL player is Connor McDavid, who has incredible speed.
“Are you as fast as him?” I asked facetiously.
“No – not even close,” came Guy’s reply.
“You must be faster than at least some of the Jets,” I observed – at least some of those pylons they call defensemen.
“If you don’t make it in Junior, are you still going to be staying in Canada?” I asked him.
“Maybe,” came the answer. “I have no idea. I don’t have any other plans.”
“How are you doing in school?” I asked.
“I’m doing pretty well,” Guy responded.
I told Guy that I recently nominated him for Jewish Athlete of the Year. (I also nominated Michael Akbashev, by the way, since there’s no limit as to how many individuals one person can nominate. It used to be easier to think of names to nominate when Harvey Rosen was writing for us, then Scott Taylor picked up the slack for a while – and will be back with a new column quite soon. However, I sure miss Harvey’s style of writing – especially his use of the phrase “athletes of the Jewish persuasion”.)
At that point in the interview Guy offered something interesting, that came in response to a question I asked whether he had any recent pictures or videos that he might be able to share.
“I have some pictures and videos from Korea,” came Guy’s answer.
“Korea?” I asked.
“Yes, I was there for the world under-20 championships,” he explained. Then I remembered something Scott Taylor had noted in his article last year, when he wrote about Guy’s playing for the Israeli under-20 team in Sophia, Bulgaria last year. Scott mentioned that Israel was being promoted to Division IIB from Division III as a result of its finishing first in Division III in last year’s tournament.
I asked Guy which other teams were in Israel’s division?
He answered: “South Korea, China, Netherlands, and Croatia.” (He forgot about Belgium, which was also in Israel’s division, I found out later.)
“How did you do?” I asked.
“We lost every game,” Guy answered – without hesitation. (Hey, get this kid a tutor in how to answer a reporter’s questions. He should have said: “We gave 100% effort but were just not able to find the net the way we should have.”)
“How did you do personally?” I then asked. “Did you score any goals?”
“Yah, I scored two goals,” came Guy’s reply. “We scored only three goals in total.” (And poor Israel had 50 goals scored against.)
“Oh,” I said (trying to hide the disappointment in my voice). “How many games did you play?”
“Five games”, Guy answered.
“Well, at least it was a learning experience,” I suggested.
I wondered whether the Israel team had any non-Israeli players. I noted that in the World Baseball Championship Israel is allowed to use players from anywhere in the world so long as they’re Jewish.
But, Guy explained, in the world Under-20 hockey tournamenth, also in the regular adult tournament, a player must have lived in the country for which he’s playing for at least two years.
While Guy’s hope is to make it to Junior A hockey next year, if not, he’s content to keep playing under-18 AAA for the Wild – if he can make the team. But, as Scott Taylor noted last year, Guy’s hope was to move up from the Bantam level to the Midget level this past year – which he did, so it would come as no surprise if he took the next step in his progression to Junior – which would be a world away from playing roller hockey in Israel only four short years ago.
Local News
GrowWinnipeg celebrates 25th anniversary

By MYRON LOVE On Wednesday, June 25, about 250 Jewish Winnipeggers – comprising lifelong residents as well as newer arrivals, came together at the Asper campus to celebrate the 25th anniversary of GrowWinnipeg, an initiative that has revitalized our Jewish community – in our camps, school, synagogues and other institutions and given our community a much more international flavour.
Our community’s population peaked in terms of population in 1961 when Winnipeg Jewry numbered around 20,000. The years after had been a period of steady decline. By 1961, most of the Jews living in smaller communities in the Prairie provinces – the source of much of our ongoing population replenishment up to that point – had largely disappeared.
A s Bob Freedman, the former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg (and its predecessor, the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council), noted in his remarks at the 25th anniversary party, by 1986, community leaders recognized that ours was an aging and shrinking community with aging infrastructure.
“We recognized that something had to be done,” he recalled.
The first stage, he pointed out, was the planning and construction of the Asper Campus, which brought our major institutions and organizations under one roof in an attractive new building.
The next challenge was to attract more people to our community. GrowWinnipeg was created to take on the challenge. GrowWinnipeg is unique in its efforts to reach out to young Jewish families throughout the Western world .
The genesis was a chance meeting on an airplane almost 30 years ago between former Manitoba Lieutenant-Governor Janice Filmon – at that time the wife of then-Manitoba premier Gary Filmon, and a Jewish businessman from Argentina who was contemplating moving to Toronto. Filmon persuaded him to consider Winnipeg instead. He was impressed by what he saw and suggested that the community send representatives to Buenos Aires to meet with other Argentinian Jewish families who were considering leaving.
That planted the seed.
Shortly thereafter – in 1998 – Larry Hurtig – then the president of the Federation, his son, Jack, and a representative of the provincial government, made an exploratory visit to Buenos Aires to gauge what interest there might be among young Jewish families to consider moving to Winnipeg.
GrowWinnipeg was officially launched in 2000. Our community opened its arms in welcome to the new arrivals who began to arrive, hosting them in our homes and helping them become acclimatized to their new surroundings.
Evelyn Hecht became the principal contact for the newcomers. “I was lucky that I happened to be working for the Federation when we opened the campus and turned our energies to repopulating our community,” Hecht noted in her remarks at the recent celebration. “Fortunately, the pieces fell into place at just the right time.”
Those pieces, Hecht related, included: the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program – which allowed community support groups to recruit specific immigrants; the arrival of a small number of Jewish families from Buenos Aires who encouraged community leaders to look to their former home as a potential source of Jewish immigrants; and the availability of email and the internet.
The initiative – led by Hecht – recruited a group of local Jewish families who were prepared to host potential immigrants who had begun to come for exploratory visits. The connections made by the new arrivals and their local hosts resulted in many long–lasting friendships, Hccht noted.
She praised Jewish Child and Family Service for helping the new arrivals to become established here and integrate into the community.
Efforts were also made to build a data basis of potential employers for the newcomers.
GrowWinnpeg was kicked off by two visits to Buenos Aires – visits Hecht describes as “exciting and exhausting” – in the early 2000s, when Hecht and other Winnipeg representatives met with potential immigrants and heard their concerns about life and personal safety in Argentina and hopes for the future that Winnipeg might be able to give them.
“I remember,” she said, “the numerous meeting I held in my office on the third floor here listening to people’s excitement and concerns and answering questions about life in Winnipeg, our Jewish identity, schools, synagogues, employment, housing and especially, safety. I always emphasized that they would encounter struggles, disappointment and possibly, crises – but I assured them that we would be here to help.
“And I remember feeling so much happiness when people would show up at my door to share good news about babies born, bar and bat mitzvahs, graduations and new jobs – and the numerous times I was in Citizen Court where so many were so proud to receive their citizenship certificates. “
And they are still coming. Dalia Szpiro, Hecht’s successor, reports that, over the past 25 years just under 7,000 people have come here under the aegis of GrowWinnipeg – and not just from Argentina. We have had families from Brazil, Uruguay and other South American countries, Mexico, Europe, and, in more recent years, especially from Israel.

For former Israelis I spoke with on the 25th, such as Slava and Karina Pustilnikov, Irena Oz and Marina Shapiro and her 19-year-old son, Adam, all of whom have been here for 10 to 15 years, the primary motivation was being in a safer environment.
For Ori Rahima and his wife, Anna Shapiro, who have been here for seven years and have three children under six, the pull was greater opportunity and a better standard of living.

Then there is Esther Barna, a teacher by training, newly arrived from Budapest. “Hungary is not a good place to be a Jew,” she says. “There is a lot of antisemitism. I was looking online for a better place to go and came across the GrowWinnipeg website. I love it here.”
In her concluding remarks, Dalia Szpiro, herself an immigrant from Uruguay about 20 years ago, thanked the many Jewish organizations and individuals in the community who have helped to make GrowWinnipeg the success that it is.
“Over 250 volunteers each year meet with our exploratory visitors – opening their homes, their hearts, their time, their insights and their networks,” she noted. “There is something very special about our community and our province. Every exploratory visitor who comes here as part of their immigration journey discovers it.
“This 25-year milestone is a reason for pride and celebration – and a renewed commitment to the future. We are already working on new strategies – to strengthen what we have built, support immigration, foster inclusion and create more opportunities for newcomers to grow and prosper.”
Local News
Long time community members Bryan Schwartz, Myriam Saitman receive rabbinic ordination

By MYRON LOVE On June 21, Bryan Schwartz and Myriam Saitman received their rabbinical ordination through the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute (JSLI) Rabbinical School – bringing the number of JSLI rabbinic graduates in our community to seven.
“I felt a calling,” says Saitman, who is the new spiritual leader of Temple Shalom, our community’s roughly 60-year-old Reform Congregation. Saitman notes that she is Temple Shalom’s fourth female rabbi.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Saitman and her family answered our community’s call for new young Jewish families that began with the Federation’s GrowWinnipeg campaign. They arrived here in 2003.
“We were attracted by a community that offered a safer environment for raising a family and better economic opportunities,” she recalls.
Although raised in a secular family, she notes that, as a young adult she was drawn to learning more about Judaism. “I took Hebrew classes in Argentina and started on a spiritual path,” she recalls.
Soon after coming to Winnipeg, she found her spiritual home at Temple Shalom. Over the last many years, she has served as a volunteer in several capacities at the synagogue – both at the school and as a long time member of the board. Since 2016, she was also one of the lay service leaders, often leading Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday evenings.
When her predecessor, Allan Finkel – also a JSLI grad – let it be known that he was planning to retire after six years as the congregation’s spiritual leader, Saitman put her name forward as a potential successor.
“Judith (Huebner) and Ruth (Livingston) (Temple Shalom’s president and past president respectively) were really supportive as were the board and the congregation,” Saitman says. “I began leading services.”
As for the JSLI program, Saitman notes that it is intensive. “It meets a need,” she observes. “It prepares us well for all the requirements of being a congregational rabbi.
“We at Temple Shalom want people to know that we are here and we welcome interfaith families,” she adds. “Our motto is that we follow tradition and embrace modernity. Our services (on Friday evenings) reflect the essence of Reform Judaism where we allow for individual choices. I’d like to stress that individual choices are informed by an educated interpretation based on knowledge of the laws and customs.”
Unlike Saitman, Rabbi Bryan Schwartz was not considering a career as a congregational rabbi when embarking on the JSLI program. For Schwartz, “rabbi” is the latest title in a lifetime of achievement. As this writer noted in a story in the Post about Schwartz last year, he “is the very model of a modern-day, Jewish, Renaissance scholar.”.A long-time professor at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, he is also a passionate Zionist, student of the Holocaust and an in demand commentator on modern legal and constitutional issues. He has written or contributed to 34 books and over 300 publications in all – in a legal and teaching career that stretches back more than 40 years. His works within a Jewish context encompass the gamut of Jewish life from ancient times to the Holocaust to the current Jewish situation. In addition, he is a poet, playwright and songwriter.
“My main purpose in taking the JSLI course,” he observes, “is to be better positioned to help deal with the challenge of Jewish survival. I want to be able to pass on Jewish tradition to the younger generation and impress upon younger Jews – who have grown up in largely secular homes – the value of our 2,500-year-old literature, culture and religious traditions.”
He observes that there is something for everyone in Jewish tradition. “There are many people who are looking for a spiritual community. I believe that Judaism provides us with a sense of our place in the universe.”
Schwartz – a lifelong student himself – notes that he has been building to this moment for a long time. In his early 20s, he notes, he audited a few courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary. In his 50s and 60s, he learned Hebrew at different ulpans.
“I had been looking around for a while for a rabbinic program,” he says. “JSLI seemed to be the best one. It was hard work – but well worth it. I learned a tremendous amount.”
So what is Schwartz – who is a member of the Shaarey Zedek – planning on doing as a rabbi?
“I would like to be able to offer weekly dvar Torahs,” he says.
He would like , among other things, to do creative and educational projects for the community, like his weekly dvar torah in the Times of Israel. The commentary that he gave on the weekend of his Smicha ceremony is called “From Burning Synagogue to Rising Lyon,” and can be found at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-burning-synagogue-to-rising-lion/
“I have also been writing books and musicals inspired by the Tradition, and hope to find forums to share them in the years ahead,” he adds. “My mission is to share in the radiance of our Tradition and help inspire the next generations to see its warmth and illumination”
Local News
Winnipeg Fringe performer Melanie Gall subjected to antisemitic attack – for second year in a row

By BERNIE BELLAN (July 20, 2025)
Melanie Gall is a talented performer who is a veteran of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival – having appeared here many times.
Last year Melanie found herself being subjected to antisemitic attacks that were initiated by a site supervisor for the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, someone by the name of Eric Rae.
As I wrote on my story about Melanie’s experience, “…on the third day (of the Fringe Festival), she said, ‘the site supervisor (Rae) came and was wearing a pro-Palestinian symbol’ and told Melanie that he was wearing that deliberately because he was coming to Melanie’s venue.
“He told her, ‘that stance you’re taking (on social media) is a political symbol.
Rae also posted on social media: “We have a Zionist in our midst harassing pro-Palestinians.”
There was a concerted effort on social media last summer to boycott Melanie’s shows (She had three different shows altogether.)
As Melanie said during a phone conversation we had last summer about what happened to her, “This is so ridiculous. I’m being harassed and bullied because I’m Jewish…it’s not about Israel.”
Eric Rae was relieved from his duties after Melanie complained to the Fringe office staff, Melanie noted during our conversation.
She adds that other Fringe employees also complained about Eric Rae’s behaviour: “I wasn’t the only one who complained last year,” she wrote in an email sent today. “Several staff members complained, as Eric was not adhering to the Fringe policy that did not allow political symbols to be worn by staff. From what I heard, he refused to stop wearing it, and he did publicly target me. The Winnipeg Fringe upheld their safe spaces policy, and they were wonderful in the way they handled it.”
Further, Melanie was the target of an organized campaign on pro-Palestine social media calling for her shows to be boycotted.
(You can read the full story about what happened to Melanie, also to her mother during last year’s Edmonton Fringe Festival, at Melanie Gall.)
Just today we received another email from Melanie informing us that the same individual who targeted her last summer is targeting her again during this year’s Fringe Festival.
Melanie wrote: “Hi! Thanks so much for the mention in the preview article! I just wanted to let you know that Eric Rae is at it again.”
Attached to that email was a picture taken from Rae’s Instagram account.

As of the writing of this post, Melanie said that she is out of town for three days and is not aware whether any of her posters have been defaced – the way they were last summer.
She did add, however, that “I assume by ‘make her feel unwelcome’ (which is what is written on one of the pictures on Rae’s Instagram account) he is planning something. Ugh.”
Melanie also said that “The one post is too close to a threat to ignore.”
In a subsequent email Melanie also sent a screenshot of an exchange that took place on Rae’s Instagram account between him and someone who goes by the handle “Kat Cat.”

If we hear more about what’s been happening to Melanie we’ll update this article.
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